Lazar Mladenov ( bg, Лазар Димитров Младенов) (July 11, 1854 – March 4, 1918) was a

Bulgarian Bulgarian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Bulgaria * Bulgarians, a South Slavic ethnic group * Bulgarian language, a Slavic language * Bulgarian alphabet * A citizen of Bulgaria, see Demographics of Bulgaria * Bul ...

Orthodox Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pa ...

priest and, later, a member of the

Bulgarian Uniat Church The Bulgarian Greek Catholic Church ( bg, Църква на съединените с Рим българи; la, Ecclesiae Graecae Catholico Bulgarica), sometimes called, in reference to its Byzantine Rite, the Bulgarian Byzantine Catholic ...

in the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

and a convert to

Eastern Catholicism The Eastern Catholic Churches or Oriental Catholic Churches, also called the Eastern-Rite Catholic Churches, Eastern Rite Catholicism, or simply the Eastern Churches, are 23 Eastern Christian autonomous (''sui iuris'') particular churches of th ...

Biography

He was born in

Bansko Bansko ( bg, Банско ) is a town in southwestern Bulgaria, located at the foot of the Pirin, Pirin Mountains at an elevation of 1200m AMSL, above sea level. It is a ski resort. Legends There are several legends about who founded Bansko. Ac ...

to Dimitar Poparabadzhiev, a

Bulgarian Exarchate The Bulgarian Exarchate ( bg, Българска екзархия, Balgarska ekzarhiya; tr, Bulgar Eksarhlığı) was the official name of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church before its autocephaly was recognized by the Ecumenical See in 1945 and th ...

priest and a teacher. Dimitar wrote for the newspaper ''Bulgaria'' and corresponded with

Dragan Tsankov Dragan Kiriakov Tsankov ( bg, Драган Киряков Цанков) (9 November 1828 – 24 March 1911) was a Bulgarian politician and the first Liberal Party Prime Minister of the country. He was born in Svishtov. Tsankov was initially a ...

, who would become the first

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

of the country. Lazar's sister, Mila Dimitrova, was a member of the

Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization The Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO; bg, Вътрешна Македонска Революционна Организация (ВМРО), translit=Vatrešna Makedonska Revoljucionna Organizacija (VMRO); mk, Внатр� ...

(IMRO). Mladenov attended a French

Catholic school Catholic schools are pre-primary, primary and secondary educational institutions administered under the aegis or in association with the Catholic Church. , the Catholic Church operates the world's largest religious, non-governmental school syste ...

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area, and the capi ...

, graduated from highschool in

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

and attended the French college in

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

. After his spiritual education in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, he was ordained by the

Archbishop of Paris The Archdiocese of Paris (Latin: ''Archidioecesis Parisiensis''; French: ''Archidiocèse de Paris'') is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in France. It is one of twenty-three archdioceses in France ...

. In June 1878, he was part of the French delegation to the

Congress of Berlin The Congress of Berlin (13 June – 13 July 1878) was a diplomatic conference to reorganise the states in the Balkan Peninsula after the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78, which had been won by Russia against the Ottoman Empire. Represented at th ...

. Later that year, he was sent to teach at the St. Benedict college in Constantinople, preferred a priestly vocation and began to serve in Thessaloniki. During the administrative reorganization of the

Catholic Church in Bulgaria The Catholic Church is the fourth largest religious congregation in Bulgaria, after Eastern Orthodoxy, Islam and Protestantism. Its roots in the country date to the Middle Ages and are part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual lead ...

in 1883, he was appointed Apostolic Vicariate for Catholic Bulgarians in Macedonia on June 12, 1883, and was consecrated by archbishop Nil Izvorov in Constantinople. In early 1884, he was invited to a personal meeting with

Pope Leo XIII Pope Leo XIII ( it, Leone XIII; born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2 March 1810 – 20 July 1903) was the head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 to his death in July 1903. Living until the age of 93, he was the second-old ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, who confirmed the appointment of the young bishop of Apostolic Vicariate for Catholic Bulgarians in Macedonia, based in Thessaloniki. During his episcopal ministry in the late 1880s, the Uniat in Macedonia reached its apogee. Thanks to his energy and the financial backing he received from the Church, Mladenov was able to provide several initiatives with grants, found several schools in his diocese and started working on a highschool in

Kilkis Kilkis ( el, Κιλκίς) is a city in Central Macedonia, Greece. As of 2011 there were 22,914 people living in the city proper, 28,745 people living in the municipal unit, and 51,926 in the municipality of Kilkis. It is also the capital city o ...

, which he wasn't able to finish. In 1890, his initiatives paved the way for the founding of the Bulgarian Catholic cathedral as his bishop's seat. In 1894, financial scandals and affairs caused conflicts between several Catholic factions, and eventually led to his departure from the Episcopal department at the end of October 1894. In early December 1894, Lazar Mladenov asked the

Holy Synod In several of the autocephalous Eastern Orthodox churches and Eastern Catholic Churches, the patriarch or head bishop is elected by a group of bishops called the Holy Synod. For instance, the Holy Synod is a ruling body of the Georgian Orthodox C ...

Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and ha ...

to be accepted into the

Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church, also called the Orthodox Church, is the second-largest Christian church, with approximately 220 million baptized members. It operates as a communion of autocephalous churches, each governed by its bishops via ...

. The application was approved as a decree on 8 December of that year.Пътуване по долините на Струма, Места и Брегалница. Битолско, Преспа и Охридско - Васил Кънчов, стр. 323.
/ref> Contrite, he returned to Catholicism in 1896 and went to

. Initially, he served as an advisor on Eastern affairs. Retaining that title, he was appointed assistant manager of the

Vatican Library The Vatican Apostolic Library ( la, Bibliotheca Apostolica Vaticana, it, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana), more commonly known as the Vatican Library or informally as the Vat, is the library of the Holy See, located in Vatican City. Formally es ...

at the beginning of the 20th century. After 18 years in office, he wrote a book on the history of

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

based on unpublished documents from the jurisdiction of his library.

References

Sources

* Giorgi Eldarov: Die Union der Bulgaren mit Rom. Zur Hundertjährigen Gedenkfeier (1860-1960) in Ostkirchliche Studien, 10, 1961, S. 3-27.
Poole, Stafford C.M. (1995) "Eugène Boré and the Bulgarian Catholic Movement," Vincentian Heritage Journal: Vol. 16: Iss. 2, Article 5.

The Macedonian question: culture, historiography, politics
Victor Roudometof, East European Monographs, 2000, , p. 102.
10 anni di Papa Giovanni in Bulgaria
Giovanni Pesci, Greco & Greco, 1998, ,p. 43. * The Future of the Oriental Catholic churches, Johannes Madey, Stanislaus, Thomas Erackel, Santinilayam Publications, 1979, p. 16.
Католическа Апостолическа Екзархия София, Biography of Mladenov retrieved from the official webpage of the Bulgarian Greek Catholic Church.

Bŭlgarskata ekzarkhia v Odrinsko i Makedonia: pt.1-2. 1878-1885
Kiril (Patriarch of Bulgaria), 1969, str. 84.
Sbornik za narodni umotvorenia i narodopis
Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 1954, str. 4. {{DEFAULTSORT:Mladenov, Lazar Bulgarian Eastern Catholic priests Bulgarian Greek Catholic Church People from Bansko Converts to Eastern Catholicism from Eastern Orthodoxy Former Bulgarian Orthodox Christians Bulgarian expatriates in Italy Macedonian Bulgarians 1854 births 1918 deaths 20th-century Bulgarian historians

Biography

See also

References

Sources